The White Feather

Sheen, a member of Seymour's House at Wrykyn School, flees from an unexpected assault by town boys. His colleagues wade into the fight with relish, acquiring bruises and sore heads, but in the fracas, Sheen is missed, and the story makes the rounds of Wrykyn that when blows were traded, Sheen "funked it."

Honor in such institutions depends on reliably standing with your House. As punishment for his defection, Sheen is "cut" - treated as if he did not exist.

In a later expedition into town, Sheen is set upon by the town bullies and finds that when retreat is no option, he can take their blows and fight against odds. Seeing his pluck, bystander Joe Bevan, an ex-champion boxer, offers to tutor Sheen.

Surprisingly, Sheen finds he has a knack for boxing. And with that discovery comes a plan: he will fight for his House in the Lightweight division and win back his honor.

But the best-laid plans... may go awry!

Wodehouse, a humorist, picks up the sober topic of cowardice but treats it with his customary panache.

First Page:

THE WHITE FEATHER

By P. G. Wodehouse

To:

MY BROTHER

DICK

The time of this story is a year and a term later than that of The Gold Bat. The history of Wrykyn in between these two books is dealt with in a number of short stories, some of them brainy in the extreme, which have appeared in various magazines. I wanted Messrs Black to publish these, but they were light on their feet and kept away a painful exhibition of the White Feather.